Is the Apple-Beats deal on hold due to Dr. Dre video?

There is still no official announcement on when the reported Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) acquisition of headphone company Beats will happen. Although it is only speculation, some sources claim the Beats co-founder Dr. Dre is to blame for the delay or possible cancellation of the $3.2 billion deal that leaked on May 8th.

The hip-hop artist recently posted an online video in which he and actor/R&B singer Tyrese Gibson perform a song about how Dr. Dre will become the first hip-hop billionaire due to the deal. The move angered Apple, a company that is used to performing highly secretive and professional deals.

“Apparently, the Apple family near imploded with outrage when that video went up on Facebook of an ‘excited’ Dr. Dre with R&B singer/former Coca Cola pin-up Tyrese [Gibson],” Yinka Adegoke writes from New York. “In the video they share, in language perhaps unsuitable for a family blog, how Dre will be hip-hop’s first billionaire and other nice things about Compton.”

Dr. Dre reportedly “is drunk off of Heinekens” in the video, said Gibson. While it may not seem like an issue large enough to postpone a multi-billionaire dollar deal, it certainly is something Apple is not used to.

The deal may also be moving slowly because “This is the biggest deal they’ve ever done, and it’s CEO Tim Cook’s first really big deal,” according to a source that spoke to Billboard. On top of that, having the news leaked early is not Apple’s style, and may have thrown a wrench into the workings of the Beats acquisition.

While the internet is abuzz with a number of various rumors and speculations, only time will tell when the eventual outcome of the Apple-Beats deal will be, or if it even happens at all.

Beats Electronics was founded in 2006 by hip-hop artist Dr. Dre (Andre Young) and Jimmy Iovine.

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[…] earlier this month, we heard that Apple will purchase the music giant for $3.2 billion, and also Dr. Dre made a video in which he and actor/R&B singer Tyrese Gibson perform a song about how Dr. Dre will become […]